Stress awareness can help you manage your weight

April is Stress Awareness Month, which reminds us to take a moment to reflect upon our daily and ongoing stressors and learn new strategies to cope with them.

Whether your stress is related to work, family, money or something else, the frustrations of life most often cannot be avoided, but we can build a healthy lifestyle that helps us manage these ups and downs.

In times of stress, many people turn to food as a source of comfort and release, which is known as stress eating or emotional eating. Of course, food only improves mood temporarily, but overeating and unwanted weight gain often leads to more stress and unpleasant feelings. If your weight or health is stressing you out, you can take action now to break old habits that lead to vicious weight gaining cycles.

Practice mindful eating

Mindful eating is key to taking control over emotional eating. Mindful eating is not a diet; it’s about being aware of and accountable to your hunger and food choices. For example, try this: Every time you take a bite at dinner tonight, put your fork down between bites and think about the way the food tastes and how it makes you feel. This brings mindfulness to your meal. Decide to stop eating in front of the television or computer, in the car while driving, or standing in front of the open refrigerator. Allow yourself to eat when you are hungry and to listen to your body so you know when to stop eating. These are all strategies of mindful eating.

Portion control

There is no doubt that the human body is wired to reach for high-calorie foods in times of stress. This was beneficial for our species in prehistoric times when we had to hunt for our food and survival depended on the ability to get enough calories. In modern times, where there is an abundance of easily accessible calories, we need to limit portions to avoid unhealthy weight gain. Stress may trigger excessive snacking on comfort foods. Single-serving packs of snacks like popcorn or nuts and mini cans of soda can help bring portion size into perspective.

Preportioning lunches into small containers to take to work can help prevent overeating.

Using measuring cups when serving up food is also a helpful tool. You might be surprised how much less you are likely to consume when measuring out your portions.

Stress relief

When trying to take your mind off food, it helps to focus on something positive. Exercise and movement are not only a great distraction, but an amazing source of stress relief. The best activities to engage in are the ones you enjoy. While meditation and yoga are known to help with relaxation and can provide an escape, other workouts like kickboxing, biking, running and even weight training positively impact the part of the brain that handles emotions, fear and anxiety. Chat with your doctor if you are thinking of starting a new exercise regimen.

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Feel-good foods

When feeling stressed, reach for foods that will provide some real, long-term mood boosting results. Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and broccoli are packed with folate, which is needed to make the feel-good brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine. Researchers have found that people who eat more fruits and vegetables report feeling happier, calmer and more energetic. This impact on mood is at least partially due to vitamin C and other plant-based antioxidants.

Avocados are a good source of stress-relieving B vitamins and provide potassium and monounsaturated fats that can help reduce blood pressure. The vitamin E found in almonds can help support the immune system in times of stress and can be found in a quarter cup of the nuts or a tablespoon of almond butter.

Try mindful eating, portion control and focusing on a lifestyle that incorporates plenty of plant-based foods and exercise to help you positively cope with the stresses of life.

LeeAnn Weintraub, a registered dietitian, provides nutrition counseling and consulting to individuals, families and food and health companies. She can be reached at RD@halfacup.com.